Ella ran her finger over the red twine, watching it as it tugged against the pin in the wall. It all led to this: the answer was here if only she could make the right connection. She threw himself back into the chair.

Again and again the killer had struck. There seemed no reason or pattern, and there were never any witnesses.

She lifted the jar, two severed fingers floating within.

“You think you’re untouchable but you’re not. You’ll make mistakes.”

Ella’s phone chimed. Her blood ran cold as she read the message.

“Do you like my present?”

(c) Tim Austin 2016.

Today’s story title was donated by Eddie Robson, Science Fiction writer of, among other things, Doctor Who, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and the radio comedy “Welcome to Our Village, Please Invade Carefully, starring Peter Davison. You can reach him on twitter @EddieRobson.

If you’d like to donate a word, please do. Just pop your word and your name in the comments section below or tweet them to me @timaustin2k using the hashtag #onewordonestory.

Grinding the blade against the table reminded Sid of school: scratching words into the underside of his desk as his history teacher droned on about the French revolution. The messages he left for her got him expelled. This message would be much worse.

Sid chuckled, sneering as he plunged a ragged full stop into the wood. The breath he used to scatter the splinters was almost tender; a love letter to the detective chasing him.

He laid two severed fingers on the desk and sheathed the knife, three words cut in stark, bloody capitals: “See you Soon.”

(c) Tim Austin 2016

Today’s word, “Knife”, was kindly donated by the wonderful Mike Wells, thriller writer extraordinaire and author of the best-selling Lust, Money and Murder books. Thanks for the inspiration, Mike! You can find him on Twitter @MikeWellsAuthor and at mikewellsbooks.com.

Keep those words coming in – tweet them to #onewordonestory and I’ll join you tomorrow for “Sehnsucht”. Follow the blog for a new story every day!